Treaties Are Made to Be Broken

October 12, 2020

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week, in honor of Indigenous Peoples’ Day, is Native American history.

I welcome comments on my poems at https://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

A poem for Indigenous Peoples’ Day containing an adaptation of a proposed treaty with Native Americans in 1783:

TREATIES ARE MADE TO BE BROKEN

Adapted from the Congressional Committee Draft Report on Indian Affairs, September 22, 1783:

Thirdly, That as the Indians,
Notwithstanding a solemn treaty of neutrality with Congress
At the commencement of the war,
Notwithstanding all the advice and admonition
Given them during its prosecution,
Could not be restrained
From acts of hostility and wonton devastation,
But were determined to join their arms
With those of Great Britain
And to share their fortunes;
So consequently,
With a less generous people than Americans,
They would be compelled to retire beyond the Lakes.
But as we prefer clemency to rigor,
As we persuade ourselves
That their eyes are open to their error,
And they have found by fatal experience
That their true interest and safety
Must depend upon our friendship,
As the country is large enough
To contain and support us all,
And as we are disposed to be kind to them,
To supply their wants and partake of their trade;
We from these considerations,
And from motives of compassion
Draw a veil over what has passed,
And will establish a boundary line
Between them and us
Beyond which we will restrain our citizens
From hunting and settling,
And within which they shall not come
But for the purpose of trading, treating,
Or other business equally unexceptionable.

© by Nicholas Gordon

To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/treat3.html. For more poems about indigenous peoples, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/indigenouspeoplesdaypoems.html .

This week’s theme: Native American History
October 12: Treaties Are Made to Be Broken